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Fire in a Theater

Liberals and Conservatives may yell and scream at each other; they may demean each other and cast aspersions at one another–and yet, they are not really so different characterologically. In today’s poisoned political climate, both Right and Left take inflexible and absolutist positions. They are remarkably similar in style and in core beliefs about the quasi-sacred status of elements of our Constitution. They just differ on which part to worship and take fundamentalistically.

Given the tragic mass shooting in Colorado, we all know that many Conservatives hold the Second Amendment to be the revealed word of our holy Founders, and they are committed to protecting it come hell, high water or reigns of terror and raining hot lead. They believe that any restriction or limitation is the first slide down a slippery slope leading to gun confiscation and then rapidly to tyranny. To them, “reasonable gun control” is an oxymoron. They believe that government wants ultimately to disarm them. The government wants order and stability and despite our revolutionary heritage, does not want people with guns and the power to resist government’s overreach. They will brook no restrictions.

Liberals, on the other hand, and concerning another amendment, in this case the First, are equally unwilling to compromise. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech and prohibits the government from restricting or regulating it. They too believe that their favorite amendment is holy and sacred, and any restriction is also the first slide down the slope. They believe that protecting popular speech is easy, but the First Amendment protects the unpopular opinion and that government, always wanting social stability, will, in the name of order, try to restrict our God-given right to express ourselves.

There are naturally some caveats and exceptions that each side asserts. Pro-gun folks don’t want the “wrong people” to have guns and free speech absolutists do draw some restrictions around political correctness. Yes, I know a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, but both sides fail on consistency. Most folks, in the shrinking center of our political discourse, understand that there are reasonable restrictions to both guns and speech. Most Americans don’t want people to be free to yell “Fire” in a crowded theater–or to fire semi-automatic weapons in that same theater.
2012 Jonathan Dobrerwww.Dobrer.com